The paper deals with mapping of landscape transition after the collapse of Communism in Czechia on national and local levels. Three maps demonstrate the main trends of landscape transition on the national level (by cadastral units) in the period 1990–2010. The Main Map shows the four most important Processes of landscape change (afforestation, grassing over, intensification, and urbanization). The second map demonstrates the proportion of area where any kind of land use change occurred (Index of change) and the third map (Extensification) indicates the shift to less intensive use of land (increase of forests and grasslands). Two main processes were mapped on the local level, that is, by parcels. The case of Jirny showed strong sububanization: fertile agricultural land has been turned into residential and commercial areas, roads; soil sealing was taking place. On the contrary, grassing over and afforestation was detected in Hošťka where arable land almost disappeared – it was either abandoned or replaced mainly by pastures between 1990 and 2010.

The major topic of this article is the evaluation of the regional differentiation of the long-term changes in land use in Czechia. This study searches the spatial and temporal differentiation of the changes and their driving forces since the 19th century. The comprehensive land use land cover change database (LUCC Czechia Database) which comprises cadastral data on the land use in the years 1845, 1896, 1948, 1990, 2000, and 2010 for more than 8000 units, was the main data source. The chief benefit of this article can be seen in the methodical procedures of the application of the “Rate of heterogeneity” (H) derived from the Gini coefficient in the research of the differentiation/inequality of the long-term land use change. GIS modeling tools were used to calculate the selected geographical characteristics (altitude and slope) of the examined units for the purpose of searching the factors of the land use changes. The results show a strong trend in the differentiation of the long-term land use changes. Two main antagonistic processes took place in the land use structure during the observed period of 1845–2010. The fertile regions experienced agricultural intensification with the concentration of the arable land in these regions. On the other hand, the infertile regions experienced extensification, accompanied by afforestation and grass planting during the last decades. The influence of natural conditions (altitude and slope) on the distribution of the land use has been growing—the arable land has been concentrated into the lower altitudes and, more significantly, into less steep areas. Grasslands and forests predominantly occupy the less favored areas with higher altitudes and steeper slopes. The built-up areas have been strongly concentrated and regionally polarized. In 1845, half of the Czech built-up areas were concentrated in 31% of the total country area, whereas in 2010, it was in 21%.

The authors focus on the current differentiation of the world and on its cognitive, application and educational frameworks and importance for the present. Macro-regional differentiation of the world has resulted from geographic concepts and it is a foundation for understanding the global development of society. This article evaluates the specific concepts and factors that form concepts of world macro-regions prepared by famous authors. It also presents a methodological approach for macro-regional forming of the world. After a theoretical and methodological introduction there is a discussion of the differentiation of the world entitled “Macro-regional differentiation of the world – formation and application.” The authors also present their conception of world differentiation and evaluation of the creation macro-regions and their positive and negative influence of the macro-regional differentiation of the world.

This article is a continuation of the same authors’ study entitled ‘Concepts And Delimitation Of The World’s Macro-Regions’ prepared for the 1/2018 of this journal (Anděl et al. 2018). The main aim of the first part was an evaluation of the concepts and factors which have been used as a basis for the delimitation of the different macro-regions of the world. In this second part, the authors propose their own macro-regionalisation of the world – this is a combination of four concepts, with relatively different contents: those of De Blij and Muller (1997), Cole (1996), Huntington (1996) and Hampl (2009). This macro-regionalisation arises from sociocultural affiliation, economic interrelationships and territorial continuity. Along with the concept of the macro-regional differentiation of the world itself, we focus on evaluating the importance of the shaping of macro-regions, as well as assessing the positive and negative features of individual concepts and their influence on the macro-regional differentiation of the world.

Central European landscapes have undergone massive changes since the mid 19th century. Various driving forces including industrialization and different political decisions led to the processes that have profoundly influenced society, landscape character, and also heritage. This article focuses on thirty model areas across Czechia that were selected as typical representatives of various types of landscape changes. Based on land use/cover data covering the mid-19th century and the present time (2018−2020), a cluster analysis was carried out and model areas grouped into types/clusters. The results show that the main dividing line runs between intensively and extensively used landscapes. The current data show this division in a very clear manner and add one more type – anthropogenic landscapes. This differs from the expert typology based on key landscape features. They are often not big enough to play a significant role in the analysis of land use/cover change.